Save Money on Computers with free tips and tricks

Computer Repair with Diagnostic Flowcharts - Troubleshooting Dell, HP, Sony, eMachines, IBM, Compaq and Gateway PC's

2009-09-01T12:33:00.001-06:00

Are you looking to save money on computer repairs? Don't mind getting your hands dirty? Here is a great trouble-shooting guide that can help a lot of do-it-yourselfers:

Computer Repair with Diagnostic Flowcharts - Troubleshooting Dell, HP, Sony, eMachines, IBM, Compaq and Gateway PC's

Top 6 Sites to go to AFTER you buy your back to school computer

2009-08-12T21:11:00.008-06:00

So you just bought yourself a computer for back to school and you think now what? Well if you read my post last week "The Top 4 sites you MUST see before you buy yourself a back to school computer" then give yourself a pat on the back for saving some money and getting a great deal. Now go to these sites to save even more money and make the most of your new computer

#1 http://windowsupdate.com/ -for up todate Windows Security Patches. OK so this only really applies if you got a windows computer but most of you are so that's OK. Go to this website and make sure you get the latest security patches. This is one of the most important steps to make sure your computer is secure from viruses, trojans, spyware and all that nasty stuff.

#2 http://avast.com/ or http://avg.com/ for free Anti-Virus software.

I highly recommend either of these free for home, personal use software programs over any other Anti-Virus program that you typically pay for. They both have real time scanning, automatic updating and all of the same features you would find in a software program you pay for. Do it now before your 30 day trial runs out.

#3 http://openoffice.org/ for free Office Software which is totally compatible with Microsoft Office. Open Office is a full suite of programs that mirror's Microsofts' programs for Word Processing, Spreadsheets Software, Presentations and database software.

#4 http://www.kijiji.ca - This is a classifieds site owned by eBay. If you haven't been here yet you will. This is the perfect way for you to sell your old computer.

#5 http://lifehacker.org - How do you make the most of your new computer? You hack it of course! Lifehacker.org has lots of great articles for how to get things done like How to make Outlook faster and How to Burn CDs and DVDs through Windows Explorer

#6 http://www.priceprotectr.com/ -for price protection on your new computer. So your new computer comes 30 day price protection but are you going to keep watching the flyers to see if you get a price break? Now you don't have to. Go to priceprotectr.com and they will watch for you and email you if your computer you just bought goes down in price.

Happy Schooling everyone!

Top 4 MUST SEE sites BEFORE you buy your back to school computer

2009-08-05T19:11:00.014-06:00

It's Back to School time again which can only mean one thing. . . BIG SALES on Laptops and Computers! Yeah! So if you are going back to school and you are looking to buy a cheap a laptop check out these great websites to make sure you get the best deal on your computer.

http://redflagdeals.com/ -This is a great site for finding coupons, deals, freebies, etc for computer electronics or just about anything really. They even have a special section just for student deals as well as store ratings. As you will see the red flag is for Canada so is probably won't help you if you are in the United States.

http://retailmenot.com/ - This site is where users share their coupon codes for various stores. They brag that they have over 90,000 printable coupons and over 150,000 searchable coupon codes including coupons to get deals from Apple, Dell, HP, Toshiba, Sony and many more computer makers.

(PS-They also have a great sister site called http://Bugmenot.com where users share their userid's and passwords on various websites so you don't have to give your own email address and personal information! Pretty cool service!)

http://www.pricecanada.com/ - PriceCanada.com is a Canadian Shopping Comparison Service that lets you compare pricing, products, and retailers. All prices are in Canadian dollars and only retailers who sell to Canadians listed (Awesome, Eh!) . PriceCanada.com helps you find and rate online retailers, so you can comfortably purchase computers, electronics, and DVDs wherever you are in the Great White North! One feature they have is to monitor stores for Price Drops in the last week. Good to know if you just bought a computer too!

http://tomshardware.com/ -This site has been around for a long time and has a great reputation for doing good in depth reviews and tests of various computers and hardware. Look here first for detailed information on the latest technology like Graphics Cards, CPUs, and Hard Drives.

Stay tuned for next week's article - Best sites to go to AFTER you have bought your back to school laptop or computer.

Back to School means the Best Time to buy a Computer

2009-08-04T21:48:00.011-06:00

If you aren't going to school anymore or you don't have kids going to high school or college you might not know that NOW is the time when most computers are sold! So if you are thinking of buying a computer then August is a great month for you! Now is the time when all the computer companies and retailers like Dell, Toshiba, Best Buy, HP, Staples, Office Depot, and Apple put on their back to school sales. The retailers love to put out coupons at this time and manufacturers tailor their production cycle to put out their best inventory at this time of year.

Let's face it, students are responsible for a lot of computer use and going back to school is the perfect time to sell to this market. Just one more reason to sing "It's the most wonderful time of the year. . ."

Speed up your slow computer and make it last longer

2009-06-24T20:39:00.006-06:00

Need to Speed up your computer?

So you have had your laptop or desktop computer for a few years and it is REALLY slowing down. Is it time for a new one? Well, probably not yet.

For most computers the problem is not that the hardware has worn out -in fact if it hasn't worn out in the first few years that usually a good sign. The reason why computers ( and I am talking Windows PCs) slow down is because of all the programs and updates, and drivers, and active X controls, etc, etc that get loaded onto a PC over time. Some of these can't be helped -such as security updates but other programs even if uninstalled leave residual files or worse yet registry entries causing registry bloat which is the source of a lot of PC slowness.

So what you you do about it?

The number one thing you can do to speed up your slow computer is add more RAM ( aka Memory)

The other day I had a user with a laptop that was 3 or 4 years old working just fine, no failures but it just really slow to the point where it was unusable. So I had a look at his Hardware specs:

-His hard drive was 40GB and he had over 50% free so he had lots of hard drive space.

-He had a P4 2.53GHz processer which while older was still fast enough for everything he needed to do (email, internet, and word processing mainly).

-He had 256MB of RAM. Now at the time when the laptop came out that was probably enough (for a low end laptop) but now with Windows SP3 and other programs that need to be loaded in memory this was definitely NOT enough.

I also had a look at the programs he had installed too:

-drivers for printers, scanners and cameras he didn't use any more

-proprietary program with a local database (memory Hog!)

-Internet Explorer 8

-Windows SP3 (installed just recently in line with when the computer started to crawl)

So what was the solution? I added 1024MB (or 1GB) of RAM and re-installed his operating system. Now it runs like a dream! I even installed SP3 again (with out IE 8) but I left out the old printer drivers, and proprietary program he wasn't using anymore.

So before you throw out that slow computer, check how much RAM it has and maybe you can speed it up to make it last a while longer.

Top 5 Most Expensive Computer Habits

2009-02-15T20:45:00.007-06:00

We all have habits, some good and some bad. Here are the computer habits that will cost you money:

5. Letting teens use your business computer. If you use your computer to store work related items, or important documents, then DON'T let your teens* use your computer. Teens use computers in a very different way namely -they don't mind taking chances. ("I think I will try installing this smiley face software". But if you use your computer for your home based business for accounting, or web banking, etc. you don't want to take these chances. It might be that your teens are different and I will admit that some are - but remember they have friends that aren't so careful.

*This includes, your kids or grandkids, nephews/nieces, etc

4. Believing what you read in email. No you can't get that medication for that price, that movie star didn't get caught on camera, and that rumor about the new president is not true. Dont' fall for it. Even if it seems like there is no 'angle' that the person is trying to work don't believe it. Always, always verify the facts independently. It's what you would do if you received in the mail or on the phone isn't it?

3. Not reading what is on your computer screen. You would not beleive how many people call me up and say 'An error message appeared on my computer' and when I ask them what did it say they reply ' I don't know I didn't read it'. Even if you don't understand what it says read it anyway. In the old, old, old days (like when Windows 95 was around) error messages were pretty cryptic but nowadays error messages are a lot more descriptive and might even provide guidance to help you.

2.Not using a surge protector or an up todate surge protector. Black outs, lightning strikes, power surges are a fact of life and they can fry your computer or major components easily. I see this all the time. FYI - Some surge protectors wear down over time. If you have had one for a few years and it has served you well make sure you buy a new one.

1.Surfing pornography on the internet. This is the number one way to get one of those viruses that bypasses all your security measures. And once it is in it has to be removed and removing these viruses costs money. Morality aside this is not a good thing to do.

4 Things you should know before you buy a laptop

2009-02-02T22:01:00.016-06:00

If you have been looking for a new computer lately you may be surprised to find that laptops have come down a lot in price and are in fact very close in price to some desktop computers. But before you buy a laptop you should take into consideration some of the hidden costs of a laptop:

Laptops run hotter. Laptop components are tightly integrated in a very small space so they run hotter than desktops. This has two affects: 1) it makes the laptop use more energy when it runs (to keep the fan running and keep things cool) and 2) it makes the components wear out faster than a desktop. So if you are looking for a computer with longevity go with a desktop. (Note one way to beat the heat is to buy a cooling pad with a couple of fans on it that will cool your laptop for about $20-$30.

Laptops get damaged more. If you think about it this make sense: after all what is more likely to get damaged - a stationary object or one that you move around a lot? To minimize this risk make sure you get a laptop bag to properly carry it around. And watch out for the number one danger to laptops: spilled drinks. Some brands cover this in their warranty so make sure yours does or make sure that it never happens to you.
Laptops cost more to repair. Because components are smaller and slimmer they are more expensive than typical desktop parts. They also require more time and skill to install and they are usually proprietary where as for desktops there are a lot of generic options.
Laptops don't come with many extras. To save money laptop retailers won't include nice-to-have features such as a mouse, cooling pad, and laptop bag. So when you add all these things to the price of the laptop it can make it considerably more expensive than a desktop.

Even considering these reasons, laptops provide a ton more convenience than desktops but just remember the retail price does not tell the whole story. --WPS